Early Modern Period Flashcards
Context
- Protestantism grew as more people feel Catholic Church needs to reform
- Civil English War 1642-1651
- Dramatic population increase
- Population was 2.5M in 1500 and 5-6M in 1700
- Fraud and theft more common in towns
- Towns and cities more anonymous
- People moving from countryside to city for work
- Many unemployed
- Growing number of businesses
- More valuable goods readily available
Oliver Cromwell and his new laws
- He was a puritan who become Lord Protector after the English Civil War
- Reward after demonstrating good support
1) Men cannot gather for sports like pike throwing after Church on a Sunday - Sunday is sabbath day, holy day for church only
2) No feasts/ games/gathering on Xmas day
- Christmas is the holiest day of the year, read the Bible, reflect on Jesus’ birth
3) Communities cant gather for food/drink/alcohol/ no indulgence
- drinking leads to bad behaviour
- you should be able to control your appetite
New Crimes
- Vagrancy Act 1547
>able bodied vagabond without work for more than 3 days was branded with a letter v and sold as a slave for 2 years
-Act of Relief of the Poor 1597
>vagrants face harsh punishments, whipping and burning ear by hot iron
- Poor Laws 1601
>local parishes must provide financial support to those not fit to work- the deserving poor
-Wichcraft act 1604
- The Game Act 1671
>cant hunt on enclosed land - Rise of smuggling
>gov introduce import duties so smuggling meant they could be avoided and there was more profit, many benefited, even the rich
Law Enforcement
CHANGE
- Town Constable
>employed by authorities, respected, can arrest suspects, takes criminals to court, carries a wooden stick
- Night Watchman
>Voluntary, overseen by constable, rang bell to alert people to move on or risk being seen as criminals, lamp, all households do it once - Theif Takers
>found and returned stolen goods to victims for a reward, open to corruption eg. Johnathan Wilde was a well known thief taker accused of corruption and pretending to find goods he stole himself
Punishments
CHANGE:
- Transportation to NA/ Australia
>taken in chains to do manual labour/ 7-14 years, deterrence, establish colonies, new environment, removed criminal from environment they were a criminal in
- Capital Punishment
>bloody code, more crimes punishable by death to deter and reduce crime rates
-Prisons
>hold petty criminals such as drunk/disorderly who await trail, in 1556 becomes house of corrections to punish the poor/orphans with hard labour to earn their keep
CONTINUITY:
- Burning for heresy
- Fraud, assault, fines for missing church
- Hanging for theft, murder, poaching
- Corporal punishments for begging, drunkenness, vagrancy
The Gunpowder Plot, 1605
- Robert Catesby led a group of Catholics to plot to kill the King and other leading Protestants on the state opening of parliament on Nov 5th
- They rented a house next to and the cellars beneath parliament to fill the cellar with barrels of gunpowder
- Lord Monteagle received a letter warning him not to go to the opening so he gave it to James I’s spymaster
- The spymaster ordered a search of the Houses of Parliament
- Guy Fawkes was found with the barrels and arrested
- He was tortured until he said who he was working with and the others were then tortured until they admitted to it
- They were found guilty of treason in 1066 and were hung, drawn and quartered
What caused the Gunpowder Plot, 1605?
- More laws that prevented Catholics practicing their faith were imposed but Catholics hoped for more freedom in 1603 when James Stuart became King
- James continued the anti catholic laws
What was the result of the Gunpowder Plot, 1605?
- Catholic restricted in voting, owning land, or being MPs till 1829
- 1606 Popish Recusants Act- Catholics must take oath of allegiance to the crown and attend church
- Kings account was published which helped spread anti Catholic feelings
Attitudes toward witches in EM period
- Made a pact with the devil in exchange for magical powers
- Witches blamed for bad weather, failed harvest, etc.
- Women seen as emotional and irrational so couldn’t resist the temptation from the devil
- Seen as tricksters by the end of the EM period
Mathew Hopkins
- Employed JPs to find witches
- Received money per witch he caught
- Led to 112 hangings and 300 witches investigated overall
- Used torture to get confessions from the ‘witches’ on what other witches there were
- Helped cause mass fear and panic from 1645-1647 through his persecutions and pamphlets
Witch-hunts
- People actively trying to discover witches
- 1645-1647 during English Civil War during great upheaval
Reasons for witch hut intentsity
Social >many widows after the war >more “strangers” looking for work Lack of authority >Civil war weakened control of authority Individuals >James I promoted it (claimed in his account his boat was attacked by witches on his voyage) >Mathew Hopkins Religious >Protestant and Puritans v Catholics accused each other Economic >problems after war meant witches were used as a scapegoat
Evidence of witchcraft
- Unusual marks on body of accused
- Witness accounts
- If accused doesn’t bleed when pricked with a needle
- If caused floats when thrown in water
- Confessions after torture from the accused
